Greeting Cards = Great Artwork!

Do you have an expanse of wall or a smaller space that's just crying out for artwork? If so, here are two inexpensive options to consider using greeting cards.

Idea #1:

This is a young girl's bathroom but it also occasionally serves as a guest bathroom. The homeowner wanted artwork that was appropriate to her young daughter's age, but not too "cartooney", "cutesy" or "theme-y." I took that to mean, No Disney and No Dora the Explorer, but still something child-friendly yet adult-appropriate.

We had two identical towel bars on either side of a vanity with double sinks so the artwork needed to be small in scale to fit on the narrow walls and over the towel bars.

We decided that the best option would be four coordinating images in 5x7 frames. When we found these greeting cards, we knew we'd hit the jackpot.


The bathroom was painted a soft blue and the accent colors were yellow and green. These cards contained all of those colors and the brown-haired fairies even looked remarkably similar to the homeowner's little girl. The images were sweet without being too "cartoonish."

To frame the cards, we bought inexpensive 5x7 frames from Wal-Mart.


We painted them white and then lightly sanded down the edges to give the frames an "antiqued" appearance.

We had to have the mattes custom-cut for the cards so they would fit into the frames. We chose a soft yellow to match the guest towels in the bathroom.

We had two of the guest towels monogrammed with the homeowner's daughter's initial and VOILA! We have sweet and girly, yet not too cutesy or cartooney artwork without spending a lot of money. It was just what the homeowner requested!

Cost for this Project: I spent $1.5o per card for each of the greeting cards. The frames were $3.00 a piece and I used leftover white paint from a previous project. The mattes were custom-cut for $3.00 a piece. In total, this project cost $28.00...but the best part is that it's original and one-of-a-kind!

Estimated Completion Time: A little over two hours, counting the trip to Hobby Lobby to have the mattes cut.

Degree of Difficulty: On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give this a 1. The hardest part was finding greeting cards with an appropriate subject for our project and that only took an afternoon.

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Idea #2:
Usually, I go shopping with my project already in mind, but in this case, I did it backward. I found this birthday card one day and bought it without any idea of how I would use it, I just knew I would so I put it away. Little did I know then, that I would end up using it in my own daughter's bedroom.

After we moved my daughter into her big-girl room, we had some empty space on either side of the dresser and it made the wall look kind of bare.


Remembering the paper doll birthday card I had bought months before, I decided to use it to create one-of-a-kind artwork for my daughter's room.

Here's the breakdown:

I bought four shadow boxes at Hobby Lobby. They were $3.99 a piece, but on sale that day for 40% off...


The frames were made with unfinished wood, so I had to paint them.

TIP: With unfinished wood, it's a good idea to sand it down with 220-grit sandpaper before you paint. Otherwise, the wood will rise with the paint and make it appear scratchy and rough.


And don't forget..."Take the time to prime!" Memorize it...Know it...Live it. If there is any tip I can give you that will help you give your painting projects a more professional outcome, it is primer. I never paint anything without priming the wood first.

To save money, I used the leftover paint we used to paint my daughter's furniture. The color is Cream Delight by Valspar.

I thought it would be cute to use a coordinating paper behind each of the dolls to give each box an individual look and make it just a little more interesting to look at. It's scrapbook paper and I bought it at Hobby Lobby too. (Just a note to the CEO of Hobby Lobby..."You're welcome.")

Now with any shadow box, the key is the shadow. I used a foam board. I went with a 10mm depth which is the thickest size. I did it because this particular shadow box was kind of deep and I wanted the doll to really stand out. I cut the board lengthwise, long enough where it would give a strong foundation to the paper doll and widthwise, I cut it thin enough where you wouldn't be able to see it from the side.

I attached it to the back of the doll with double-sided mounting tape. I used mounting tape because I wanted the bond to be stronger than probably regular Scotch tape could provide.

After that, I put the lids on each box and called it a day! This was a fun project and I love the idea that my daughter now has totally original artwork for her room that's cute and girly, but says nothing about her being a "diva," "princess," or "drama queen." Because she's none of those things...at least not every day. ;o)









I'd never done this project before, and although it seems pretty straight-forward, I'd like to share a couple of lessons I learned...

I'm almost too embarrassed to tell you this, but I suppose if I didn't think to do it, someone else might not either. The shadow boxes come with the hanging hardware already attached. When you go to glue the doll inside the box, make sure you check the back first so you don't accidentally glue the doll upside down. I did it on, not one box, but two before I realized what I'd done.

Take the time to tape off the frame with painter's tape to protect the glass. I didn't and it was a real chore to get all the paint to come off when the project was done.

To do this project, you will need:
4 Shadow Boxes - $9.40
4 Pieces of Scrapbook Paper - $1.16
Spray Adhesive
Paint and Primer
Double-sided Mounting Tape - $4.99
10mm foamboard - 4.99
Birthday Card - 4.99

Total Cost: Approximately $26.00
Timeframe to Complete: Approximately 4 hours
Degree of Difficulty: On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 3.